Is Alliant Energy Hometown Rewards right for your town?
Will the Alliant Energy Hometown Rewards program work in your community? We can’t guarantee success, but we have done this before, with each community achieving significant energy-efficiency goals. Alliant Energy initially piloted the E-Communities program from 2004-2007 in three Iowa towns: Dubuque, Grinnell and Mt. Vernon. We’ve taken the best practices from this pilot program to create the new Alliant Energy Hometown Rewards program.
Alliant Energy Hometown Rewards is a partnership and we want to partner with communities that demonstrate their commitment to energy efficiency.
Based on what we’ve learned, here are some of the Characteristics of Successful Communities:
- Town population of around 5,000 – 25,000 people
- Ability to commit personnel and resources for three years
- A strong spirit of volunteerism
- Government support from mayor and/or city council
- A dedicated, influential team committed to the Hometown Rewards program
- Financial resources to kick off the program ($5,000-$10,000 to fund programs until Alliant Energy funding begins)
- Community-wide motivation to become more energy efficient
Keep in mind that these are characteristics of previously successful programs and not criteria for enrollment. These characteristics have played a big role in boosting program success. However, they are not a guarantee of program success or failure. So even if your town population is less than 5,000, your town’s spirit of volunteerism may outweigh this fact, making your participation a success.